They also wanted more democracy, and end to corruption, and economic opportunity. Demonstrators expressing political and economic grievances faced violent crackdowns by. Protesters gathering on pearl square, april 2011, photo hh. Here, protesters wave flags at the pearl roundabout in the capital manama on feb. In much of the popular analysis over the past year the term arab spring has become the defining characteristic of the new middle east emerging from decades of authoritarian and repressive rule. These popular protests were the first in living memory to reach oman. Thi s researc h articl e attempts to scrutinize the nature and cause s of the ara b uprising s which too k people by surpris e globall y throughou t 2011 and int o 2012. Arab spring yields different outcomes in bahrain, egypt and.
The common slogan of the protesters throughout arab spring was the people want to bring down the regime aissa, 2012. Of the four major arab spring protests analyzedtunisia, egypt, libya, and bahrain. In spring 2011 it quickly announced enormous direct and indirect payments to the population, in order to avert protests. The arab spring was a series of prodemocracy uprisings that enveloped several largely muslim countries, including tunisia, morocco, syria, libya, egypt and bahrain. It serves as both an eyewitness account to the initial phase of the arab spring, as demands for reform cascaded across parts of the gulf states, and an analysis of how and why the regional counterrevolution succeeded in isolating and fracturing the burgeoning protest movements.
Bahrain suffered dramatically from the protests and unrest and it will require a lot of effort from the government to recover. Pdf the middle east and north africa mena have long been laden with tensions and instabilities. Its name is from the arabic term albahrayn, meaning two seas. The 2007 national strategy for maintaining integrity and combating corruption had already provided for the setting up of a national anticorruption body. After the 2011 arab spring, a pressing concern has been developed. Social media have served as an outlet for social movement to propagate ideas, mobilize members for collective action and coordinate activism. Pdf international response to bahrains arab spring.
Hundreds of other protests followed, and popular anger against the sunni monarchy is still a vital issue in the kingdom. Located in one of the worlds chief oilproducing regions, bahrain itself. With firsthand accounts of events in bahrain, saudi arabia, and kuwait, matthiesen tells the story of the early protests, and. We examine how the united states response to the situation in bahrain can be differentiated from that in libya and egypt based on a comparative content analysis of the u. Bahrain, saudi arabia and the arab spring that wasnt by t oby m atthiesen, journal of islamic studies, volume 27, issue 2, may 2016. Egyptian revolution, also known as arab spring or arab uprising, was a shock for international community because egypt has been seen as one of the strongest military state in north africa region.
It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with protests in tunisia noueihed, 2011. Since then, the country has become increasingly politically polarized, and those who have dared to speak out about the tragic human rights situation in the country have been punished. Bahrain follows the same pattern as the rest of the arab spring in that established and officially recognized opposition groups have been led by youth groups on the streets. Central to bahrains crackdown on prodemocracy protests has been the use of special military courts as well as civilian courts. He was a founder of al wasat newspaper, one of the few independent newspapers in bahrain, and a member of a prominent political party. During the arab spring the number of users of social networks, especially facebook, rose dramatically in most arab countries, particularly in those where political uprising took place, with the exception of libya, which at the time had low internet access preventing people from doing so. Cnn produced a documentary about the use of internet technology and social media in the arab spring, including a minute segment on the bahraini uprising that reported repressive conduct by the government. Bahrain has been wracked by unrest since in february 2011, when demonstrators occupied manamas pearl roundabout, demanding more democracy and an end to discrimination against the majority shia. Exploring the interplay between framing and securitization. The arab spring demonstrated that public opinion can powerfully affect the regions political life.
In december 2010, protests began against the autocratic government in the northern african country of tunisia. To that end, the next section advances on the chosen theoretical approach, the subsequent. Political profile of bahrain and its role in the gulf, along with attempts to diversify markets and attract tourism. This thesis explores several dimensions of domestic and international politics related to the arab spring. Pdf inspired by the events of the arab spring, political activists in bahrain organized an antigovernment demonstration on 14 february 2011, which. Such incentives have recently earned bahrain the title of host of three of the worlds top twenty economic zones. Analysis of the arab spring 3 blunders in state response, in particular using a heavyhanded approach and trying to crush opposition, had the reverse effect of galvanising more people to join the protests icg, 2011b and 2011d. Bahrain, saudi arabia, and the arab spring that wasnt is an extremely timely analysis. Inspired by the events of the arab spring, political activists in bahrain organized an antigovernment demonstration on 14 february 2011, which resulted in the death of one protestor. The arab spring has fundamentally altered the middle east and north africa mena. Hopes for justice and reform fading five years since 2011 uprising topics bahrain demonstrations. Abdelkarim alfakhrawi, 49, died on 11 april 2011 after being beaten to death while in the custody of bahrains national security agency nsa. These developments have been consolidated by the arab spring, where us support for reform and democracy in egypt and north africa has pushed the. Instead, that spring has given way to a winter of economic stagnation and political violence that has plunged syria, libya and yemen into bloody civil war, has led to widespread unrest in egypt, iraq and bahrain, and threatens to destabilize arab governments from morocco to saudi arabia.
Jan 29, 2018 six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring. Saudi arabia and the arab spring ren rieger gulf research center arab spring as well as by the growing popular displeasure about the widespread corruption in the kingdom. A t the dawn of the first winter after the arab spring, bahrain is an island of sadness. Hundreds of thousands of tunisians took to the streets calling for an end to authoritarian rule. Images of the arab spring in bahrain images found on weblogs, featuring the pearl roundabout, symbol of the demonstrations in february and march 2011. Assessing the arab spring in its second year by mohammed ayoob, april 6, 2012 the arab spring is now over one year old. Alwefaq and other shiite groups alleged widespread voter suppression, particularly in shiite districts. The islands territorial position in the persian gulf not only makes it a key contending regional power but also determines its geostrategic position as a.
However, saudi and qatari reactions to the arab uprisings proved to be. The arab spring created uncertainty for the economy. A bumpy road ahead pdf by hassan hakimian, director of the london middle east institute and reader, economics department, soas underscores the underlying importance of the economic conditions facing the new republics, such as egypt and tunisia, which are emerging as a result of the arab spring. So, while clearly linked to the wider phenomenon of the arab spring, the protests in oman not only emerged from the omani context, but the methods of expressing demands also reflected omani ways of doing things. Demonstrators expressing political and economic grievances faced violent crackdowns by their countries security forces. The geopolitics of the region grc paper the arab spring has yet to give way to the hopedfor glorious summer, but for iran it has already turned into a winter of discontent. Bahrain 7 political contestation and sectarianism 9 sectarianism and the 2011 uprising 12 iraq 201120 12 sectarianism and political conflict in iraq 14 sectarianism in the 2011 mobilizations 15 from iraqi spring to sunni spring 16 lebanon 20052011 17 sect and state 18 sect, resistance, and the 2005 uprising 19 2011. Bahrain this guide lists online and print sources for what has become known as the arab spring, the popular revolutionary wave in the middle east and north africa that started in december 2010. Ascendancy frustrated gulf research center 5 introduction. However, the recent arab uprisings, better known as the arab spring, have intensified volatility. The arab spring in bahrain and the gulf chatham house.
Bahrain and the global balance of power after the arab spring. Cnn aired the documentary only once in the united states and not at all on cnn international. Causes of the arab spring causes of the arab spring may be described as following. The arab spring is therefore both a domestic and a foreign policy issue in saudi arabia. Arab spring in the short term, without delving into the root causes of the arab spring, which are present also in the gulf region. Bahrain after the arab spring when mass protests demanding reform broke out on 14 february 2011, they were met with violence from the bahraini security forces. Bahrain is the one arab country where the government has suppressed a major uprising. The role of social media in the arab uprisings pew.
This title, earned in 2012, earmarks bahrain as a top twenty location for internal investment, economic development. The government responded by arresting opposition activists. Download the pdf and write to the authorities today. New media must be understood as part of a wider information arena in which new and old media form complex interrelationships. Bahrain, saudi arabia and the arab spring that wasnt by t oby m atthiesen. Within the gcc states, the reaction to the uprisings has been a mix of economic handouts, use of patronage, limited political and economic reforms as well as domestic repression and even military intervention. The arab spring uprisings are mentioned within the context of rebellions in nations like south africa and serbia, whereas the libyan rebellion can also be seen by way of the negotiations it provoked inside nato. In the flood of newspaper articles, media documentaries, online blogs, youtube postings, and scholarly articles that followed the rebellions and worldwide protests in 20112012, there is however a remarkable feature of the protests that has remained mostly unrecognized, untheorized, and certainly not analyzed comparatively this was the salient. It is an archipelago consisting of bahrain island and some 30 smaller islands. Impact of arab spring on bahrain college of wooster. Security framing the arab spring protests in bahrain on bahrain bahrain is a small island kingdom in the arabian gulf. Surrounded by other gulf monarchies, such as saudi arabia, kuwait, qatar, bahrain, oman, and the united arab emirates, these countries are usually known for their oil wealth and. The regional revolution saw regime change in tunisia, egypt, and yemen, and civil wars in libya and, at the time of writing this, ongoing in syria.
We ask if the arab spring has ultimately failed to bring change to libya and bahrain, or if theres hope for the future. Arab spring, wave of prodemocracy protests and uprisings that took place in the middle east and north africa beginning in 2010, challenging some of the regions entrenched authoritarian regimes. Looking in depth at two states that have had significantly different outcomes from the uprisings tunisia and bahrain the article analyses the. It is ideal as an introductory reader that contributes. Evolutionary reform, rather than revolution, was the driving force. Satellite view the pearl roundabout by night pearl towers overshadowing the demonstrators shiites praying, photo hh. Six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring. In sectarian gulf, toby matthiesen paints a very different picture, offering the first assessment of the arab spring across the region. At home the saudi leadership is pursuing a carrotandstick strategy.
In spring 2011 it quickly announced enormous direct and indirect payments to the population, in order to. As popular uprisings spread across the middle east, popular wisdom often held that the gulf states would remain beyond the fray. International response to bahrains arab spring shamiran mako, jul 17 2012, 1890 views. It demonstrates how the current unrest forms part of a cycle of recurrent peri ods of contestation and predates the arab. The aim of this chapter is to examine the use of the social media by the bahraini antigovernment movement since the outbreak of the arab spring in bahrain in 2011 till the present day. The middle east and north africa mena have long been laden with tensions and instabilities. It is widely believed to rebound in the near future.
Political instability and sectarian strife 62 beginning of the pr otests 64 gcc initiative and the national dialogue confer ence 65 houthis and their advance. Ideas reports special reports, kitchen, nicholas ed. After the arab spring and the fall of mubarak in egypt, it was exactly this alliance that was threatened, creating worries in saudi arabia and israel, which both saw the risk of an islamist egypt opening the gates of the arab middle east to iran. The roots and causes of the 2011 arab uprisings kamal eldin osman salih abstract. Jul 17, 2012 international response to the arab spring has varied depending on the geopolitical and strategic position of the country, nowhere has this been more prevalent than in the case of bahrain. Bahrain, small arab state situated in a bay on the southwestern coast of the persian gulf. Bahrain, saudi arabia, and the arab spring that wasnt is an important book. Arab spring research guide and notes sheet introduction. Hence in my thesis, i analyse bahrain as a critical case of the arab spring. The armed forces played a decisive role in many of the arab uprisings, particularly the early ones. Iran finds its revolutionary message diluted and overtaken by events. Arab spring used their powers vehemently to crush the demonstrators and consequently the peaceful protesters also became violent.
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